Watch the Moon PV Fyre!

"Aroo... rrruff... wurrrf?" howled AngelFyre.

Colin glanced at Liam.

Liam glanced at Colin.

"Hurrf hurrf!" they chuckled, shaking their heads slowly. Colin wondered why Fyre wanted to eat a smelly stone! That was strange! But he reckoned she was trying to say something intelligible and just got her words all mixed up.

"All right, you two," she said, switching back to girl speech. "Shall we go?"

"OOOooOoOoo!" the wolves chorused as they shot forward into the darkness! Colin could hear AngelFyre's thumpy footfalls behind them. The wolves were way too fast, and almost as one, Colin and Liam looped back, chased each other around the girl before shooting ahead again!

There was something --- no, someone --- on the island with them! Colin yipped excitedly! Both boys knew this was no foe. He posed no danger. "HWUFF!" Colin called back to AngelFyre as she fell behind again! Colin's mind drifted back to his wolfy dreams. The blue eyed girl. The hazel eyed girl. Wrapped in rough furry hides against the wind blowing down from the Ice. They both bore long staves, not like those of the human hunters, who tracked down the beasts even the wily wolf could not hope to bring down! How much patience those ancient wolves showed to the humans! They couldn't run fast. They yammered loudly. But not all of them. Some of the humans --- were different. They made things happen that even the most observant wolf could not fathom. And they forged a kinship.

And now, Colin thought, here they were again. Only the blue eyed girl this time! She could run no faster than the girls of old, but the kinship was the same. "Rrrahh ngngngh ngngngh!" Come on Fyre! Colin and Liam turned back again to collect the lagging human and urge her to greater speed! Honestly, they should have been able to run twenty times across the length of this island in the dragging hours it took poor AngelFyre to make one little run!

The wolves darted ahead again, sniffing at the air. Suddenly they skidded to a halt and turned to the left. "Ruuh! Rwaaah!" they called out into the tumbled stones inland from the rumbling waves rolling into the northern end of the island. Colin and Liam crouched on their haunches waiting for AngelFyre to catch up and for the other one to make his appearance.

"What is it, Colin?" Fyre asked as she caught up. Colin and Liam's ears were perked up straight and they were panting excitedly! Colin looked back towards AngelFyre, the Moon casting his rays across the girl's beautiful form. In that moment, he really wished he'd invited Emily as well. The transformation had gone splendidly. Fyre didn't barf or run away in terror. Ah well. Hindsight! Next month would be different! Colin would be with his Eyes of Sky!

Colin sighed.

Emmi.

His ears twitched. Liam's right ear swivelled backwards. Colin smiled. Aoife was not far away. Leaving the three the space they needed. Colin wondered if she'd follow or remain at the cottage. A very slight rustling sound from beyond the stones attracted his attention. A silvery grey wolf leapt up onto a tall stone before the three. For a long while, his stern gaze focused on AngelFyre, then flicked briefly to where Colin was sure Aoife was lurking.

He was bigger than the younger wolves, but not by a whole lot. Certainly stronger than either of them. Colin, used only to the other werewolves at Hogwarts, had little experience with adults he shared his condition with. The only adults he and Liam had met were those at Wolf Rock. And they were actually pretty terrifying if he say down to think about it!

"Hurrin! Rheem!" the big wolf began. Colin and Liam yipped their greetings in return, showing proper deference. They talked for quite a while, though Colin would occasionally glance over at Liam to see if he understood. He couldn't quite get all the things the older wolf was saying. Clearly, he and Liam weren't the first werewolves to work on a private language for those special moonlit nights! They'd put theirs together as a mish-mash of their own words, plus things common to the Hogwarts wolves, and then again with a strong admixture of the Wolf Rock wolves. Every now and then, he or Colin would say a word and the great wolf would huff in indignation. Or perhaps disappointment? Or sometimes in curious wonder! Usually when the Wolf Rock words came out.

At several times, Colin thought he could hear other words. Not spoken by the throat of any of the wolves here but rather --- inside his own head!? Liam tried answering the older wolf's question. Colin got sidetracked. Wait. Sanctuary. That wasn't a woofy word he and Liam had even considered! Did he hear that outside his hears or really inside his mind? Colin blinked.

"WHOUFF!" the older wolf said, his eyes boring into his brain.

Crap! Even Liam was looking at him! What did he even say?

"Hrhh!" Liam snickered. The older wolf raised one eyebrow.

BoyColin died from the embarrassment. WolfColin bowed his head slightly and wagged his tail hopefully.

"Hrhh hrhh!" The older wolf turned then and departed back among the rocks beyond the barren scrub. Colin turned his head to look up into AngelFyre's eyes, as if she could explain the mystery to him. Liam took the opportunity to Colin's side!

"YIIP!" Colin squeaked! Ye miserable cur! he shouted at Liam in his mind.

Liam stopped and stared dumbfounded. His ears were perked, and his head slightly tilted! Colin took that as an invitation to leap onto his twin's neck. Colin growled softly and opened his jaws wide! He mouthed Liam's muzzle gently, and the wrestled at Fyre's feet! And as quickly as that Liam darted away!

"Rourou Hurrhin! Grrou woou!" Colin snarled! Call me a sucker!? He sped off nipping at Liam's tail. They turned rushed back towards the girls, circling them around in an ever tightening ring. The boys sniffed around as they got in closer. Everything was cool. There were no enemies here. Colin exulted in his wolfy body! Twas almost as cool as his boy body, which he also exulted in!

Colin yapped merrily at AngelFyre and Aoife, and the pair dashed full speed back towards the fire ring! Liam chased Colin all the way back to the girls, but Colin deftly dodged his brother's nipping teeth! Hah! Try and catch ME if you can sucker! Colin yeeped happily as Liam snarled in response.

Wait.

Colin slid to a rather ungraceful halt right in front of the girls, and Liam crashed into him, pawing at his sides and belly! "Arragh!" I heard that wee tonker! Wait. But had no more time for thinking about this! The joy of zooming around the island showing the girls all the neat smelling rocks and chewing on the curious tasting mosses and flowers was just too much for one brain to handle!

And so they passed the night and came on towards morning. The Moon began his downward journey, and Colin knew that the Sun would soon begin her own upward rising. Soon enough, he and Liam would undergo the same process they had the evening before. His bones would break and reshape themselves all over again. His tendons would snap and his heart and lungs would stretch and his fangs would revert back to their boy forms.

He'd gotten good at judging when the transformations would happen on each fulling of the Moon. They both had. Rather than sit around moping about the curse, they used their experience and knowledge to eke out every moment of joyful play or adventure the transformation could give them! And so at the very last, just as Colin's claws began to throb with their first pangs, as if giving birth to ordinary boy finger nails, Colin watched over his Liam as the other boy trotted off to his chosen spot.

Colin nudged Aoife and AngelFyre as they sat by the fire under the slowly brightening eastern sky. He padded back over to where he'd thrown off his kilt the night before and shook his head softly. He took a deep breath, preparing for what was to come. His paws shook violently, and his arms and legs with them.

He heard a voice. Not in his head this time. Colin collapsed onto his side. Twas a soft whisper. His sister's voice. "Oh God, Cail...!"

@AngelFyre McCubbin || Mentions: @Emily Shephard